God and Guns in Synagogue

There is a problem in American Judaism. It is a problem of basic theology. Those of us who believe in Torah Judaism recognize that evil exists, and to combat evil requires common sense and weapons.

Secular American Jews—Democrats almost exclusively—believe in utopian solutions to, well, everything. Which means they advocate for gun free zones, an invitation to Jew-hating mass murderers.

My good friend Daniel Greenfield’s article which analyzes this theological split is both timely and accurate.

There are two types of synagogues: those that believe in G-d and those that believe in government.

After the mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the government synagogues turned to the government with calls for gun control. And those that believe in G-d, turned to the Almighty.

And then, trusting in the Almighty to stand with them against danger, they went out and got their guns.

Morning services at the synagogue these days begin and end with guns, with talk of tactical courses, firing ranges and concealed carry permits. “If someone comes to kill you, get up early to kill him first,” the Gemara, the Babylonian Talmud, that massive encyclopedic work codifying Jewish law, advises.

In synagogues across America, the teachers, actuaries and small businessmen rising early for morning prayers are preparing for a mass shooting attack. Every synagogue I have been to lately has members who carry concealed firearms. Members are attending security courses, training to identify, disarm or kill active shooters, while also preparing for the ugly aftermath of another synagogue massacre.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I think in Los Angeles county it is almost impossible to get a concealed carry permit. But if one were to perceive the threat level as rising, I’d carry anyway.

Daniel’s post makes more sense to me in re: American Jewry than anything I have heard. You would think with all of the pogroms and mass killing of Jews over the millennia, having a firearm – or weapon – and being proficient in it – would be in the DNA of every Jew.

I might add to Daniel’s thoughts in re: Evil. Those on the G-d side believe Evil to be an Entity, while those on the Government side believe Evil to be learned habit.

I have been around long enough to see Evil. I believe that Evil possesses some people.

This is the time to apply for permits, especially in places that make it very hard — LA, NYC, etc. One reason is to shame the victim disarmament politicians and expose them as people who stand with criminals and against honest citizens — and especially as people who espouse antisemitic policies preventing Jews from protecting themselves.

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Robert J. Avrech
Los Angeles, California

I'm an Emmy Award winning screenwriter. I'm also an observant Jew, a religious Zionist, a conservative Republican, and a member of the NRA. I've been writing and producing in Hollywood for over twenty-five years. But the focus of my life is my family: my radiant wife, Karen—with whom I have been in love with since I was nine years-old—and my two daughters, who, thankfully, look like Karen. Not too long ago, we had three children. But our son, Ariel, died at the age of twenty-two from cancer. We miss him terribly. We think about him practically every minute of every day. People tell us that time heals, but Karen and I know this is not true. Time grinds away doing its terrible work. Ariel is gone. Yet absence becomes presence.

Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.

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